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THE FIRST FOOT.'

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'Well, Granny,' said Mary, 'you see we have not come empty handed, as people say; I hope you will like what's in here. There's a grand new shawl that I have knitted myself.'

And half a pound of tea from me,' said George, and a pound of sugar.'

And a great big cheese from mamma, and a ginger bread cake from us all,' added Mary.

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Hush,' interrupted George, 'old nurse will find out all the goodies for herself.' He was afraid the old woman would think they expected a taste of the good things; and although some such idea had passed through his mind when they stuffed in the cake, and filled up the corners of the hamper with packets of sweet-meats, not for the world would he have spoken out the thought.

'Lend a hand, Mary,' said George (he had heard his father's porters at the warehouse saying this when cords were to be untied and lids taken off packages); 'I can't get this knot undone, they have tied it so tight.'

What exclamations of delight, as each gift was lifted out and displayed! The old woman declared they could not have done better, though they had been told exactly what she needed-and, 'What a beautiful fit!' said Mrs Brown, as she drew the shawl round her shoulders, 'the very thing for my rheumatics. Now for a grand slice off the cake to my first foot; and here's your own little arm chair, Miss Mary, that

was your mother's before you, I've kept it well for her sake; and here's your uncle John's stool for you, Mr George: sit down, children, we'll have a crack round the fire, as we eat our New Year's bread. It's a grand first footin' the day.'

Tell us about long ago, then, Nurse,' said Mary, as she seated herself in the chair. 'Did you go first footin' when you were a little girl? '

'Ah!' said Mrs Brown, and a shadow came over the pale old face, 'I've seen merry first footin's, as they called them, grow into weary sorrows at the end.'

'But how, Granny?" said Mary, 'I don't see how first footin' like this, could ever grow into sorrow: it's all so nice here though it's so cold outside—we're so cosy. I don't see how any harm can come of it.'

'Not first footin' like this, my dear,' said Mrs Brown; 'you come with a blessing, and you are blessings yourselves; but there will be many a weary head to-night, and many a sore heart too, for all the merriment that's going.'

'Do you know, Granny,' said George, 'as we came down your lane we met a drunk man wishing every body a happy New Year, as he reeled past. It wouldn't have been a good New Year for me, if he had just lurched a little more to one side and been down on me and the hamper too.'

'Ay, that would be one o' your first footin' gentry. I heard a shout from some village lads, as the old church clock chimed out twelve last night, and away they went with their whisky and their ale past my door: I was glad when they were by.'

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And what's the use of the whisky, Granny? asked George; first footin' is such a happy thing when we come to you with our hamper, but it can't be very happy, I think, if they go reeling and tumbling like that.'

'Yes,' said widow Brown, 'first footin' turns to last footin' with some of them. Poor James, my cousin's laddie, that I liked so well, and that every body liked, as well as me, never came back last New Year's day from his folly and fun, as they

SABBATH SCHOOL SPECTACLES.

call it. It was a wild stormy day, and he took the road by the river. It was flooded frae bank to brae, and roarin' down its bed like a torrent. Many an hour his poor mother looked out for him, after darkness came on, but she never saw him in life again.'

" But wasn't he bad and wicked?' said Mary; how could every body like him, Granny?'

'Ah! no, Miss Mary, he wasn't what you call bad or wicked, but he couldn't say "No" to companions who were far worse than himself, and who loved strong drink; and so that was an end of him: but Granny must not make her dear bairns sad on such a happy day, so we'll say no more about him."

'Oh! George,' said Mary, 'look how the snow has come on since we came; we'll make a splendid snow man in the back garden, by and bye. We must go, Granny; if we stay as long wherever we go first footin', New Year's day will be old before we are done.'

George felt rather solemnized and saddened by Granny's tale, and in after years, when tempted to be jolly and jovial, as his companions miscalled it, on a New Year's day, the thought of poor James stumbling into the dark river gave him nerve and strength to resist. First footing' to old nurse Brown brought a blessing to her, and to her dear little friends too.

А

K.

SABBATH SCHOOL SPECTACLES. FRIEND of children once visited a Sabbath school and gave an address to the children, which interested them greatly.

He told them that, a few days before, he had taken a long walk. The weather was delightful, and the bright sunshine very cheering. As he walked along, he thought that he must put on his Sabbath school spectacles. I call,' said he, 'the power of seeing everything from the point of view of my class-the habit of turning all the little events of the day to the profit of the

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children-my Sabbath school spectacles. When I put on these spectacles I say: "I see something which I will relate to my class; this would interest my children; here is a lesson from them-I will remember it on Sabbath."

And what did this teacher see on his walk that day? At first he noticed two little sparrows hopping gaily along, picking up crumbs, and drinking little draughts of water. A child passed by eating a piece of cake, and the crumbs which he unconsciously let fall supplied the wants of the sparrows.

What did the spectacles point out in this as interesting to his class?

First, that God takes care of all: 'Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Dear children, if ever you are poor or in distress, do not forget that God made the crumbs fall for these two birds, and that he will be sure to provide what is needful for you, for you are much better than they.

And what next?

Next, that our trust in God, if it is real, gives us strength to carry on our work. The sparrows were seeking their food; they had come, by the flapping of their own wings, into the street where they picked up their breakfast. 'If any will not work neither should he eat.' (2 Thes. 3. 10.)

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And what did this teacher see after that? A terrible enemy: a young grey cat, with ferocious eyes, sharp claws, ready to spring upon the poor birds. At first it crouched behind a railing, then glided stealthily along the wall: when within a few steps of its prey, it placed itself before them, behind them, to the right, to the left, its eyes fixed upon victims, and following their every movement with eager, deadly, glaring eyes. The little birds feared nothing; they either did not see their enemy, or they thought themselves too far away from him to be in any danger. They hopped about, eat, drank and played in the sunshine, while their friend with the spectacles was trembling for them. The cat came nearer and nearer, he had just

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the devil, 'who lies in wait, secretly, as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.' (Psalm 10. 9.) And very often children think not of their danger--are not upon their guard though they have been told a thousand times, 'Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' (1 Pet. 5.8.)

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See him in the temple standing,
Lo, his eyes he daren't raise,
While his humble supplication

Out before his God he lays.
His is not a boastful prayer,

Like that of the Pharisee; It is one of earnest longing,

'God be merciful to me!' Yea, and more, for, standing lowly, 'Neath that consecrated roof, There he calls himself a sinner,' Heedless of the world's reproof. And that'sinner's' earnest prayer, 'God be merciful to me,' Was by HIM accepted rather Than that of the Pharisee.

EMINENT MEN

COLUMBUS.

LENA A.

OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.

COLUMBUS.

IN N a fine light of enthusiasm, yet sad; sad as beautiful things so often are, stands out from all the men of his time, the figure of Christopher Columbus.

The exact date of his birth is unknown; 1456, or a few years later, the early historians say. He was born in Genoa, and studied in the great School of Pavia. In 1470 he came to Lisbon, married the daughter of the Portuguese navigator Palestrello, and settled into what seemed a quiet life, busying himself for a livelihood by making charts and maps.

But a great thought broke upon him while he worked. God put the thought into his heart. Far away to the westward, far over the sunset sea, there lay an unknown land which he, Columbus, must find. Columbus felt it like an inspiration. God had given him this to do to plant the cross in the sunset far through mysterious space, in some undiscovered region across the untracked sea. Columbus felt that he must do his work. With what long patience he did it, with what noble fervour and simplicity, can never be truly toid,

But how should he do it? for Columbus was poor enough. And to hear him tell his strange thought, was like a fairy poem to

which the people listened and smiled, as they might listen and smile now at the fables of their own early history.

But the people who bartered keenly in the streets, and were filled with their gossips and their slanders, could not know this which was clear to Christopher Columbus. He applied to King John of Portugal. King John was but like his subjects. From him neither did he find any understanding or aid. A silly vision, the king like his people thought it. His wife was dead, and his home desolate. Columbus took his little boy Diego with him and left Lisbon to go where God should lead.

Weary and hungry, he travelled through Andalusia, and stopped one day at the gate of the convent of La Rabida. It was to beg bread and water for his little motherless boy. The superior of the convent was at that moment passing the gate, and struck by the noble stranger so tender and so stately and so poor, stopped with a courteous greeting, and they talked together in the gate. Soon Juan Perez de Marchena discovered that this was no common wayfarer. The tide of Columbus's life had turned; Marchena became his friend.

Marchena had interest at court which procured for Columbus at last, although slowly indeed, the aid he needed for his voyage. It was seven years before he was provided with the three ships necessary. On the morning of the third August, 1492, the ships lay in the little port of Palos in Andalusia, ready for the unknown sea. 'Ferdinand and Isabella, Lords of the oceanseas, constituted Christopher Columbus their admiral, viceroy and governor-general of all such island and continents as he should discover in the western ocean.' Holding this high commission, Columbus went on board his ship. Solemn religious services were held upon the deck, and while all the air was still filled with the prayers and blessings of the people, the Spanish coast grew dim, and the mariners went out to that mysterious sea where ships had never sailed before.

A brave and able seaman was the Admiral Columbus. Do not suppose all

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